1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to accessing information and other items across multiple workspaces in a GUI.
2. Background Art
In computer systems, a GUI is used to present information to a user. In a personal computer environment, analogies are made between the items in a GUI and a person's desk. For example, the initial screen that is displayed when a computer system is booted is typically referred to as a desktop. The desktop provides a mechanism for displaying application information within the application's windows. Because a window is associated with an application, the information contained in an application window is not accessible from another application. Further, the information is not accessible across multiple desktops.
Some user environments such as the Unix Common Desktop Environment (CDE) and Hewlett Packard's HP Views provide users with multiple workspaces or desktops. The CDE and HP Views environments provide a panel displayed in the GUI that includes a set of buttons that provide access to applications such as calendar, file manager, mail, printer, etc. The user can access the panel while in one of the workspaces to invoke one of the identified applications. However, a window of the invoked application is, by default, only accessible in the workspace in which the user invoked the application. If the user subsequently switches to another workspace, the user must switch back to the workspace in which the application was invoked to access the information associated with the application.
A mechanism is available in the CDE and HP Views environments for the user to override the default to make a window accessible in multiple workspaces. However, it is a manual process. The user must identify a window and the individual workspaces in which the window is to be accessible. Thus, the user must go through a tedious, manual process to make a window accessible in another workspace.
Further, the CDE and HP Views environments do not provide any management of the GUI to ensure that the panel or the application window(s) do not become inaccessible. A desktop can easily get cluttered with open application windows and other GUI elements. For example, the user can initiate an application that opens one or more windows. The application windows overlay the information already being displayed on the desktop. In the CDE and HP Views environments, newly created application windows overlay the panel, application windows or other GUI elements already on the desktop making them inaccessible. To access the panel or other GUI element that is no longer visible on the desktop, the user must first rearrange the elements on the desktop to uncover the covered element.
Various techniques have been developed to make an element accessible. For example, in a process referred to as minimization, the size of a window can be reduced. A window can be minimized to the point that it is represented as an icon on the desktop, for example. A window can also be removed by closing it. Further, an element can be rearranged on the desktop. Windows can be dragged from one location on the desktop to another, for example. The shuffling or resizing of elements on the desktop is time consuming. It can also be frustrating to the user particularly when the user needs access to the element frequently or quickly.
Menus (such pop-up or pull-down menus) have also been used to make elements more accessible. The user clicks on a menu icon which causes the menu to be displayed. The user can click on an item in the menu to select the item. These menus are pre-configured and their entries act as pointers to such things as applications, folders or documents. In the Macintosh operating system, an apple icon in the top left-hand corner of the screen represents a menu that contains pointers to elements. To add an entry in the apple menu display, the user adds the element to an "Apple Menu Items" folder in the system's folder.
Another type of menu that is used in Windows 95 is a taskbar that exists at the bottom edge of the Windows 95 screen or desktop. The taskbar contains icons that represent open applications. To start an application, the user types in the location of the application in the system's file system, or the user selects an entry in a hierarchical menu structure (i.e., the location of the application associated with the entry has already been defined). When the application is invoked, an application window is opened on the desktop. When the application's window is minimized, an icon that represents the application remains in the taskbar. To activate the application, the user moves the cursor that is displayed on the desktop (using the mouse) to the taskbar. An option that exists in Windows 95 allows the user to hide the taskbar or remove it from sight until it is needed. The taskbar appears as a thin gray line at the bottom of the display, if this option is chosen.
The menus including the Apple menu used in the Macintosh operating system and the Windows 95 taskbar have a unitary function. In the case of the Apple menu, the menu holds pointers to an element stored in the operating system's file system. The Windows 95 taskbar holds pointers to suspended applications. It is impossible, for example, to configure the menus to run an application within the menu itself. In the prior art, a menu has a unitary function that is hardwired and cannot be configured by a user.
Thus, the menus currently available, including the Macintosh Apple Menu Items and Windows 95 taskbar, do not provide a mechanism for accessing information or other items from another application. Further, in the prior art, a menu does not manage the element on a desktop to reduce the clutter. It is still necessary for a user to manage the elements on the desktop by, for example, minimizing, maximizing or otherwise hiding windows and rearranging desktop elements.